


With a heart that beats like a tap that leaks

by wearetheluckyones



Category: One Direction (Band)
Genre: Anal Fingering, Anal Sex, Blowjobs, M/M, Mentions of Racial Slurs, Mentions of Racism, Mentions of past mpreg, Minor Character Death, Mpreg, angst (ish), handjobs
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-01-13
Updated: 2016-01-13
Packaged: 2018-05-13 16:58:37
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 10,848
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/5710060
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/wearetheluckyones/pseuds/wearetheluckyones
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Zayn has a little girl and Liam has two little boys, and together they make one big, happy yet slightly dysfunctional almost-slightly-pretend-family.</p>
            </blockquote>





	With a heart that beats like a tap that leaks

**Author's Note:**

> Title from Things That Stop You Dreaming by Passenger, which is one of my most favouritest songs :D. This fic has been in the works since last year. _Literally_.

Zayn wakes to a baby crying from the apartment next door in the middle of the night and groans so loud he's sure the kids parents will probably hear him. 

He'd seen the family move in the day before yesterday, well, just a man and two children, but he'd also heard a female voice late last night through the walls, and they seemed nice enough, but Zayn needed his sleep, and so did Ilyana, he had work and she had school.

He waits patiently for the crying to stop, but when it doesn't after something close to an hour, and Ilyana climbs into his bed with her hands over her ears, he gives up and gets out of the bed, checking the time on his phone and turning the bedside lamp on.

"Baba?" Ilyana asks, blinking amber eyes up at him from curled under the bed sheets, confused, arms raised up towards Zayn.

Zayn put a finger to his mouth. "Shh, meri jaan, baba'll be back in a moment. Go back to sleep."

"No, baba. Don't go. Stay 'ere."

Zayn dresses in a pair of trackies, over the top of the briefs he'd worn to bed, and leans down to press a kiss to Ilyana's forehead, turning the light back off. "I promise I'll be back soon."

The baby's crying still when Zayn knocks on the neighbour's front door, rubbing at his eyes. It's answered by the man he'd seen when he'd come home the night they'd moved in, light brown hair falling over his face, eyes wide, but tired, as a boy, maybe eight or nine months old, cries in his arms, red cheeked and teary.

Zayn wants to cover his ears, the baby's so fucking loud. 

"Look, can you do something about your son please? It's three thirty in the morning and I've got my own kid." He sighs and rubs at his forehead.

"God, I'm so, sorry, I just... I have no fucking clue what I'm doing. I'm trying here. I'm by myself." He looks so fucking lost, like some sort of puppy dog, as another boy comes running to the door and hides behind the man's leg, thumb in his mouth. 

Zayn's mouth twitches. "Just... God, I'm too tired for this, pass him here."

The man looks confused, and a little taken aback, before he slowly, and nervously places the crying baby in Zayn's arms. Zayn shifts the child until he's straight up, over Zayn's left shoulder with his arm under the baby's bum, his other hand rubbing his back, patting it carefully.

He really hates this part, but when the baby vomits out what he hadn't burped up after being fed, he stops crying, so Zayn takes it as a win. He's got vomit over his shoulder and back and the man looks horrified, but the baby's starting to drift back into sleep.

"You gotta burp him after you feed him or he'll chuck up, or not be able to chuck up and get sick. Like tummy aches and stuff."

The man takes the baby back when Zayn hands him over, eyes still wide as he thanks Zayn.

"Put your boys to bed. Go back to sleep. I'm next door if you need anymore help, but I'm not always there."

The man nods, shocked, and Zayn leaves, goes back to his own house, cleans up, and falls back into bed next to Ilyana, curling around her.

-*-*-

The next day, after Zayn's back from work, shepherding Ilyana and her best friend Mika, who's over for a sleepover, down the hallway of his building to his apartment, he's shocked to find his next door neighbour's door's open, and his eldest kid is in the middle of the hallway, playing with a bright yellow truck, making car noises.

"Baba, look!" Ilyana says, pointing at the toddler, who lifts his head at the voice. Zayn steps forward and reaches down to pick the boy up, who just grins, giggles and tugs at Zayn's long fringe.

He pushes into his neighbour's apartment and winces. It's an absolute disaster zone, toys everywhere, dirty cups and plates on most flat surfaces. The man from last night's passed out on the couch snoring, with the baby on his belly, awake and waving a teddy bear around, talking nonsense to it.

"Jesus Christ." Zayn croaks, looking around the room.

"Shh." The boy says. "Daddy seeping."

Zayn rubs at his forehead and walks back out of the apartment, down the hallway, looking back to check the girls were following him (which they were), walks past his door and knocks on Hadley and Briane's door.

Hadley answers it, dressed in shorts and a singlet despite the weather, and smiles brightly when she sees Zayn.

"Who's the boy?"

"The new neighbour's kid. Can you look after Ilyana and Mika for a few hours?"

"What? Daddy," Ilyana whines, confused, looking up at Zayn as the little toddler in his arms begins to chew on his hair.

"He's passed out on the couch and the place is a wreck."

"Passed out drunk or passed out tired?"

"Tired, I think." Zayn says. "He's got two kids, they've gotta tire him out. One tires _me_ out enough."

"So what are you going to do?"

Zayn shrugs. "Clean his apartment." Zayn checks his watch. "Feed the boys, put them to bed if he isn't awake by then."

Hadley frowns but she nods, ushering the two girls into the apartment.

"Mika's allergic to nail polish, so don't bring it out, alright? Just entertain them for a few hours, feed 'em junk food if you must." 

Hadley grins and gives Zayn a wave as she closes the door. Zayn sighs and looks down at the little boy in his arms, sighing. "What's your name, then?" He asks, though he isn't sure he'd be able to answer.

"Grayson." He replies through Zayn's hair.

"And your brother's?"

"Sawyer."

"Daddy's?"

Grayson looks confused. "Daddy?" He answers slowly.

Zayn sighs again and wanders back to Grayson's door, slipping inside and shutting it quietly behind himself. Grayson's dad is still asleep on the couch, but his brother, Sawyer, has managed to climb off, and onto the floor, banging a car on the floor and giggling. Zayn reaches down and somehow manages to pick him up too, and carries them to the kitchen, which is as equally messy as the lounge room. It's a bit more toys than it is dirty dishes, and Zayn decides to start in here.

There are two high chairs by the kitchen table and Zayn puts Grayson down on the floor to first strap Sawyer into, and then picking him up again to strap him into the other one. They both giggle and Zayn smiles at them.

"We're going to be good boys for uncle Zayn, aren't we? While he cleans up for daddy?"

Grayson nods, but Sawyer bangs the car on the high chair table, so Zayn takes it away and replaces it with a soft bear from the kitchen table, which he also bangs. Luckily it doesn't make any noise.

So Zayn gets to work.

-*-*-

It's while he's trying to quietly clean around the brown haired man that he decides this was the stupidest thing he's ever done. He's almost passed out himself, after a day of work, and now cleaning a whole house, from top to bottom, but he feels this gut churning in satisfaction when he's done everything but vacuum, and it makes it worth it.

He's going through Liam's cupboards, Sawyer on his hip, Grayson by his feet, humming, when the man finally wakes up, and wanders into the kitchen rubbing his eyes.

"Grayson? Sawyer?" He calls sleepily, and Sawyer giggles in his arms. The man looks up and stares at Zayn, wide eyed. "Get away from my son, what are you doing? How did you get in here? Why is it _clean_?"

Zayn holds his hands up in a non threatening gesture, at least as best as he can with Sawyer on his hip, and Liam looks even more confused. "I came home and Grayson was out in the corridor and the door was open. I came into find you asleep and the place was trashed so I kinda... Cleaned up a bit, I guess."

The man still looks shocked, and stares around the kitchen in disbelief, rubbing the thick stubble on his chin. "Christ, I don't even know what to say. You probably think I'm a terrible parent."

Zayn smiles and shakes his head slowly. "No, I think you're a parent."

The man deflates, and Zayn hands Sawyer over as he continues the search for food in the cupboards. They're almost bare. Jesus. "You've got no food, hun."

"I know." The man shakes his head. "I've barely had a chance to do anything, and I moved in here four days ago. The boxes were unpacked because my mates came over to help."

Zayn nods. "Oh! My name's Zayn, by the way."

"Liam." The man says solemnly.

Zayn smiles softly and picks Grayson up from the ground where he'd been playing with a toy car. "Well, Liam, you're very lucky, because you've just scored yourself an invitation to dinner for three at Malik Palace, AKA, next door."

Liam looks a little relieved and Zayn gets a warm feeling in his belly. "God, how do I even thank you? You don't even know me, yet you clean up our house, and now you're feeding us?"

Zayn smiles wider and shakes his head. "No thanks needed."

Zayn takes Liam to his apartment before going to Hadley and Briane's to pick the girls back up, and take them back home.

He cooks spagbol and finds a jar of apple purée in Liam's fridge (the last jar), that he feeds to Sawyer while Liam looks on in complete concentration, like he's trying to learn how to feed his son. And bloody hell, maybe he is.

After that, Zayn helps Liam bathe the boys in his bathtub, before Liam takes them home.

He has just enough energy left to get Ilyana and Mika to bed before he passes out on his own bed, shoes still on.

The next day, after work, he takes Liam food shopping, and Liam's so pleased after it, he looks like he might cry.

-*-*-

Zayn's cooking dinner for himself and Ilyana the next week, dancing with his daughter in the kitchen to Seventeen by Alessia Cara and giggling, when there's a knock on the front door. It's Liam, and he looks a bit sheepish, Sawyer in his arms as Grayson clings to his leg.

"Uhm... Do you have any pull ups? Or, could you like... Look after the boys while I go get some?"

Zayn chuckles and smiles. "C'mon in, I've got some, but they're pink, so."

"Yeah, it's alright, I just gotta get some more tomorrow, but right now, I'm completely out."

Zayn ushers them in and shuts the door behind them. "How's toilet training going, then?"

Liam sighs as he follows Zayn to the hallway cupboard. "I'm totally out of my league."

Zayn smiles and pulls a box of nappies out from the top shelf, next to a completely full, unopened one. He has a weird thing about that. He takes a pile of nappies from the box, maybe eight or nine, he isn't sure, and puts the box back on the shelf. "You hungry?" He asks as he hands them to Liam.

"Uh..."

"Want dinner?"

"You sure?"

Zayn nods. "Change Grayson or whatever and wash up, come into the kitchen. Is honey chicken and rice okay?"

Liam sighs gratefully and nods, lips turning up into a smile. "Yeah, that's great, thank you so much."

Zayn nods and leaves them, going back to the kitchen where Ilyana is, standing on her stool, watching the chicken in the frypan, close enough to see, but far away enough to not get spit on by the oil, not touching, just like Zayn taught her. She smiles at him when he enters and he smiles back at her before checking on the chicken.

"Liam, Grayson and Sawyer are going to eat dinner with us, is that alright?"

Ilyana nods. "Yeah, baba. Sawyer's cute. Is he here? Can I play with him?"

Zayn chuckles. "Wait till Liam brings him back. Don't you want to play with Grayson?"

Ilyana shrugs. "Boys are gross, though."

"Sawyer's a boy, though. So am I."

Ilyana thinks about that for a moment before shrugging again. "Well, Sawyer's a baby, and you're a daddy. It's different."

Zayn laughs. "Okay, Ilyana." He tells her indulgently. "Now go wash up. Foods almost ready."

Ilyana hops off the stool and runs off in the direction of the bathroom, calling 'hello's to Liam and the boys on her way there.

Zayn finishes dinner and serves up four bowls, two small and two big, before Liam, Ilyana and Grayson come wandering back into the kitchen.

"I put Sawyer to sleep in your bed, if that's alright?"

Zayn nods. "He been fed?"

Liam nods. "Had a bath and everything."

Zayn feels almost proud, gesturing for Liam to sit down, helping Ilyana into her own seat as Liam helps Grayson into his. Zayn sets plates of rice and honey chicken in front of them before sitting down with his own.

Zayn and Liam strike up an easy conversation about work while Grayson and Ilyana start a staring contest that lasts for the entire meal.

After dinner, Liam washes up while Zayn bathes Ilyana, and then helps her get dressed in her pyjamas, checking on Sawyer for Liam while he bathes Grayson.

Afterwards, the kids are sleepy and warm, pressed into Liam and Zayn's sides while the TV plays _Cars_ on low, falling asleep before Lightning even gets lost.

"Does Ilyana have a mum?" Liam asks suddenly, running his fingers through Grayson's hair, turned to face Zayn.

Zayn goes red faced for a moment before he shakes it off. "No. Just me." He thinks about telling Liam, but it's weird. It's not just something you spurt out in normal conversation.

"That's okay. She's turned out pretty well without a mum."

Zayn smiles. "You're doing pretty well, you know, with the boys. They love you. There were a few mistakes, but every new parent makes mistakes. You learnt from them."

Liam smiles right back. "I should get the boys to their beds."

So he does, waking Grayson up and going to get Sawyer, leaving. Zayn gets Ilyana into her own bed once they've gone.

-*-*-

That Friday night, Zayn's just putting Ilyana in the bathtub when there's a knock at the front door. It's Liam, with Sawyer and Grayson, and he looks positively terrified.

"I think Gray swallowed a toy solider."

Zayn nods. Okay. "How big?"

"I don't know, the size of a pinky?"

Zayn nods again, slower this time. "Okay. Alright. I'll take you guys to A&E. Get some stuff ready."

Liam's nodding, just about to head back to his apartment when Grayson vomits all over the hallway carpet and starts to cry.

They get ready pretty quickly, and packed into the car, Ilyana in her carseat, Sawyer in Ilyana's old seat, and Grayson in Liam's lap in the passenger seat, crying while Zayn drives.

"Daddy, belly hurts." Grayson whimpers, the same thing over and over again until they reach the hospital and pull up to the emergency department.

"I know, hun, I know, we're almost there, baby."

Liam gets out of the car with Grayson before its even stopped, and Zayn watches him get into the emergency department before parking the car and taking Ilyana and Sawyer inside.

Liam's already through, and while Zayn's surprised, he doesn't take the time to think about it, walking up to triage.

"Hi, how can I help you?"

"Hi, I'm... Oh crap, I don't know his surname. I'm the neighbour of the boy who swallowed a toy solider. I've got his brother, I need to get in."

The nurse frowns. "I need a surname, sir."

Zayn bangs his hand on his head. "Think, think, think." He has a eureka moment. "Payne. Grayson Payne." She nods and finds three visitors stickers before typing something into the computer.

"They've taken him to second ward, so through the doors and to your right, down the end of the hallway."

Zayn nods, and takes Ilyana's hand, walking through the doors and down the hallway on his right, fallowing it down the the second ward nurse's station.

"Payne?"

A male nurse smiles. His name tag says Charlie. "He's in eleven. Just there. He points behind Zayn and Zayn turns to see Liam leaning over Grayson in a hospital bed. Zayn rushes over and places Sawyer on the bed next to Grayson, who's still crying. Sawyer curls up next to him in comfort and Ilyana pears up at him from the ground.

"They're gonna take him in for an x-ray and a CT scan and put him on a drip. They're getting the stuff now." Liam tells Zayn, running a hand over his face with a sigh. "I'm so scared, Zayn." The last is whispered.

Zayn pulls his hand from Ilyana's and lifts her to the bed. "Be a good girl, darling and watch the boys while I talk to Liam? Press that big button there if something happens to Grayson, okay?"

Ilyana nods, smiling and Zayn walks around the bed, takes Liam's hand and leads him out to the hallway. "He's going to be fine, I promise, babes. Ilyana swallowed a two pound coin when she was eighteen months old and we were just told to wait until she passed it. She's was absolutely fine. Don't be scared. Be strong for Grayson."

Liam runs his hands over his face, tears welling up in his eyes. "My sisters used to swallow things all the time. I ate almost a pound of Play Doh. We were all fine. I'm just scared. He's my baby. My son. I've had him for just about two months and I'm _so fucking scared_. I love him so goddamned much."

Zayn smiles, bright and wide. "As you should. Your fear isn't invalid, Liam, I'm not saying that, just be there for Gray. Be his daddy. Now wipe your eyes and get on back in there."

Liam smiles and nods, does so.

-*-*-

They get the good news at two in the morning, six hours after they took Grayson in. The CT and the X-ray came back, and show that the toy was in Grayson's stomach, and would most likely pass through on its own accord.

It does, two hours after they get home at five o'clock in the morning, and Grayson finally gets to sleep.

Zayn stays with Liam till morning, sleeping in his bed with him on one side, not touching each other, and Ilyana on the other, curled into Zayn's arms.

He sets an alarm for seven to ring his boss and tell him he won't be coming in and Ilyana's school to do the same, then sleeps the rest of the morning till midday.

He wakes with a body curled around his that his definitely not Ilyana's, and soft, children's voices floating in from the living room. Zayn doesn't want to move, he's too comfortable and warm in Liam's arms (because they can't be anyone _but_ Liam's arms), but he has to check up on the kids.

Liam, however, unconsciously decides that that isn't the way to go, and Zayn needs to stay with him, so he curls himself tighter around Zayn when he tries to move, makes him immobile.

Zayn sighs and tries again, and again, and again, until Liam finally wakes up, eyes wide and mouth open in shock. He moves away from Zayn quickly and ends up sliding off the bed with a loud _thump!_

"Jesus, you alright?" Zayn laughs, hand over his mouth to hide it, leaning over to stare at Liam on the floor. He's sprawled on his front, face turned towards the bed, cheeks red. He doesn't move and Zayn laughs harder, just as two little pairs of feet come pattering in through the bedroom doorway.

Ilyana's carrying Sawyer very carefully, like she does with Zayn's nephew, and she's got this huge grin on her face that makes Zayn's heart hurt. God he fucking _loves_ her.

"We made cereal!" She says, and puts Sawyer carefully on the ground next to Liam's head before climbing up onto the bed with Zayn, using Liam's arse as a stool, which is just...

(Liam lifts it to help, but still)

"How do you _make_ cereal, Ilyana?" Liam asks, raising an eyebrow, sitting up and pulling Grayson into his lap, then Sawyer into his.

"Well, Boy-"

Zayn's eyes bulge out of his head. "Oh god, no."

Ilyana goes on, ignoring Zayn's outburst. "-you take the milk from the fridge and you put it next to the cereal on the table."

"I think your daughter's forgotten my name, Zayn." Liam says, laughing for Ilyana's benefit, though he probably doesn't get the reference. God, she watches way too much _Buffy the Vampire Slayer_.

Ilyana speaks up before Zayn even has a chance to explain. "Your name's Liam. I'm not silly. I call you Boy, 'cause you're daddy's _boy_ friend. Get it?"

Liam's eyes go impossibly wide.

"Ilyana, Liam's not my boyfriend. He's like uncle Harry. A friend."

"Nani said if your a big kid, you only give cuddles to your boyfriend or girlfriend."

"Nani needs to shut her mouth." Zayn mumbles to himself.

"And Phuppo Waliyha said when you like someone you smile a lot and stuff. Like them, like you want to kiss them. Like, on the lips."

Zayn really hates the women in his family. "You smile at Sawyer. Does that mean you want to kiss him?"

Ilyana thinks for a moment before climbing of the bed and kneeling in front of Liam, Grayson and Sawyer. She leans forward and presses a smacking wet kiss on Sawyer's little lips. Sawyer giggles and claps his hands, making kissing noises. "See?" She says.

Zayn groans and shakes his head. "I don't smile at him cause I want to kiss him. Now take us to this cereal, I'm hungry."

That well and truly cuts off the conversation, and Zayn's fucking glad. Liam seems to be as well.

-*-*-

"Daddy, where's Boy?"

Zayn sighs for what feels like the eight hundredth time and looks up from his laptop to raise an eyebrow at Ilyana. "For the last time, Ilyana, _Liam_ is next door. In his own apartment."

Ilyana frowns, confused, but she nods anyway and runs off. Zayn goes back the laptop in his lap, typing up a report until there's a knock at the front door. Zayn sighs and gets up to answer it.

It's Liam, and when he looks down, he realises Ilyana's with him. He's smirking at Zayn, and Zayn slaps a hand on his forehead with a groan.

"I think this belongs to you?" Liam says, an eyebrow raised as he pushes Ilyana forward a little bit, softly, just to get her to move.

"Chrissakes, Ilyana."

Ilyana doesn't even look a little guilty, a huge smile on her face. "Just wann'ed to play."

"Time out for five minutes, Ilyana, you go nowhere without me knowing, you know that."

Ilyana groans and stomps her way into the flat, down the hallway and into her bedroom.

"Thanks for bringing her back." Zayn tells Liam, smiling at him and shaking his head. "She kept asking me where you were. Must've decided she wanted to go over anyway."

Liam smiles. "I've gotta go back to Grayson and Saywer." Liam turns to go again, but stops and looks back. "Can I ask a favour?"

Zayn smiles and nods.

"Can you, uh, can you look after the boys tomorrow morning? For two or three hours? I've got a job interview at eleven."

"Uhm... Yeah, yeah, I reckon so. I don't have work tomorrow."

Liam smiles, bright and wide. "Thank you. So much. I'll bring them over at ten twenty?" Zayn nods, and Liam rushes forward for a tight hug, smile pressed into Zayn's neck. "Thank you so much."

Liam leaves and Zayn watches him go, body warm and brain all soft, just from Liam's touch. 

Christ.

-*-*-

Ilyana's already off at school when Liam drops the boys off, smart in a suit and tie, a shoulder bag over his arm. 

"If I'm not back by midday," Liam begins, handing over a Cars backpack and a Thomas the Tank Engine backpack with a smile. "Just feed them what's in their bag. There's nappies and pull ups and a change of clothes for each and baby wipes and that, and give Sawyer a bottle and put him to bed if-"

Zayn laughs. "It's alright, Liam, I've got my own ratbag, I know how to take care of them. I'll just take them for a drive or something."

Liam bites his lip. "I know, 's just, getting harder to leave them."

Zayn smiles and hugs Liam. "Go to your interview. Get a job. Good luck."

Liam sighs and nods, leaves, shutting the door behind him. Zayn looks down at Grayson and Sawyer on the couch and smiles. "What should we do today, boys?"

"Boo!" Grayson says, loud and bright, smile wide. 

"Boo, to you, too." Zayn laughs, ruffling Grayson's hair. "Lets go for a drive, shall we? Maybe down the Thames? Have lunch somewhere?"

Sawyer sucks on his foot and giggles when Zayn catches him. Zayn takes that as a yes.

Ilyana's current carseat is already in the back, so Zayn's only got to get the smaller one from the top sheep in his wardrobe before he straps both boys inside, bags in the back with them before he gets in himself with his wallet, phone and keys and turns the car on, pulling out of the driveway.

-*-*-

Zayn takes them to the Battersea Park Children's Zoo, first, and they spend just about an hour there, petting the animals before they drive to a cafe near the Saint George Wharf Pier. Zayn orders a chicken sandwich and fish and chips for Grayson, trying to feed Sawyer a jar of puréed sweet potato, while trying to eat his own lunch. It's harder than it actually sounds, making sure two kids aren't making a ruckus, while eating and feeding one lumpy puréed food. Zayn has to apologise quite a few times to disgruntled customers who end up with splatterings of sweet potato and pieces of chips and fish on them. He manages it, anyway, feeds them both, and himself, and then packs them all back into the car.

The drive back to Zayn's apartment is quick, and mostly painless, besides a bit of a cry from Sawyer has when he messes his nappy. Liam's still gone as he takes the boys up to the apartment floor, so he takes them to his own place, changes Sawyer and checks the time before deciding to put the boys down for a nap.

He puts Grayson down in his bed without much fuss, just reads him a book and watches him pass out with a snore. 

He then takes Sawyer back to the kitchen and heats up a bottle of formula and feeds it to him on the couch, putting him to sleep next to Grayson.

He spends the last of his time with the boys cleaning the house, picking up toys and rubbish, keeping an eye on Sawyer and checking on Grayson every now and then before there's a knock at the door.

"Did you get it?" Zayn asks, before he even checks it's actually Liam.

It's not Liam, it's Hadley and Briane and they've got Ilyana with them. Zayn frowns. 

"You never answer your phone," Hadley says, if that's an answer to why Ilyana is with his neighbours at one in the afternoon, with a huge red welt on her cheek and not at school.

Zayn picks Ilyana up and checks her cheek, brushing her hair out of her face so he can see. "What happened, princess?"

"This nasty older boy hit her with a stick."

Zayn stares over at Briane, then at Hadley, then back at Ilyana and frowns. "He hit you with a stick?" Ilyana nods. "Why?"

"He said it was cause I was a raghead." Ilyana says solemnly, as if she thinks she's done something wrong, as if she thinks she's going to get into trouble for getting hit with a fucking stick and being called a fucking raghead. He's mortified.

Zayn holds her close to him, so angry he wants to cry. "I'll come talk to your headmaster tomorrow, okay, pretty?"

"Okay, daddy." Ilyana nods her head and hides it in Zayn's neck.

"Thank you guys,"

"S'alright, love." Hadley says, giving Ilyana a kiss on the forehead before she and Briane leave.

Zayn's just about to shut the door again when he sees Liam coming up the hallway, grinning wide like the sun, and Zayn doesn't even have to ask if he got the job or not.

"It well, then?" Zayn laughs when Liam practically skips towards him.

"Ace," Liam agrees. "Work'll even take the boys in their childcare room for free."

Zayn smiles. "That's great, babe."

Liam looks down at Ilyana and smiles at her, only for it to slip into a frown. "What happened to you, little love?"

"Go inside, alright, princess. Have an ice cream from the freezer. Be careful not to wake the boys, alright? If they cry, though, let Liam and I know." Ilyana nods and goes running into the flat. Once she's gone, Zayn turns to Liam with a hard expression on his face. "Some bastard kid called her a raghead. He called my six year old daughter a raghead. And hit her with a stick."

Liam looks just about as horrified as Zayn feels. "What?"

"Yeah, I have Hadley and Briane as Ilyana's second emergency contact in case I'm tied up, and they got called in. I don't know the full story, but I'll go in tomorrow to get it."

"God." Liam says. Zayn hums and nod his agreement.

"Anyway, the boys are asleep, I think I wore them out."

Liam chuckles and follows Zayn into the flat.

-*-*-

Zayn doesn't see Liam a lot the next three weeks. They're both busy with work, but Liam's started leaving little notes under Zayn's door every day about work and his day and how the boys are doing and it so cute. Zayn always writes back with the same.

When they do see each other again, it's in the elevator as they're both getting back from their respective workplaces, the kids with them.

"Been a bit." Liam says in greeting, smiling at Zayn as the elevator starts it's quick ascent to the third floor.

Zayn chuckles. "Has been." He's got Ilyana asleep in his arms, tuckered out from school and daycare after it, snoring softly against his shoulder. "Wanna join us for dinner?"

Liam smiles. "I think it oughta be my turn to cook, don't you?"

So they agree to meet back up in Liam's apartment in half an hour after they've gotten their things upstairs and such. While Liam said he'd cook, Zayn helps, and they stand at the stove, side by side as soup cooks in the pot, talking.

Liam's been doing pretty good lately, a lot better than before, working and taking care of his boys, and managing time to clean the house so it's not as bad a pigsty as that first time, even if there are still some things like toys and rubbish around the place.

Once dinner is eaten and the kitchen's clean, Liam fills the tub and bathes the boys, before letting Zayn with a sleepy Ilyana in after him.

Later they're on the couch, just them, with The boys in their beds and Ilyana in Liam's, watching _The Dark Crystal_ (which is Zayn's favourite, and made him smile when Liam had suggested it)when Liam drops a bombshell.

"I was wondering if you could, uh, take the boys tomorrow night, I've got a, well, I guess I've got a date."

Zayn's not sure how he feels about the flare of jealousy that runs through him at that, so he just ignores it and smiles at Liam. "That's great, course I can take the boys."

Liam smiles and nods, but there's a flash of something behind his eyes that Zayn can't decipher. "Thanks Zayn."

"S'alright, babes, s'what friends are for, ain't it?"

Liam smiles, but it looks forced, and Zayn's confused. What did he want Zayn to say? No, he can't go? Zayn's so confused.

They watch the rest of the movie in silence, and Zayn takes Ilyana back home to put them both in their own beds, though Zayn doesn't sleep for a long while.

-*-*-

Zayn picks Ilyana up from after school daycare at six with just enough time to get home before Liam's leaving for his date at quarter to. He starts on dinner, just spaghetti bolognese, as Ilyana does her homework on the table, with a little input from Zayn every now and then, as she tells him about her day.

"That boy, the one who hit me with a stick, his mummy and daddy made him go to a different school. I heard them in the office saying they wouldn't let their son be in a school with a tenorist's daughter. What's a tenorist?"

Zayn wipes a hand over his face and sighs. He's had to have a few of these conversations with her the last few weeks, about all the names the boy and his parents and a few other kids have called her ever since the new terror attacks in Greece and America, and he hates it. She's six, she shouldn't need to know about these things.

"A terrorist is a bad person who... who causes mass fear. Fear in a lot of people, by doing something bad."

"Did you do something bad, daddy?"

Zayn shakes his head sadly and swallows. "No, I didn't, but there are people like you and me, who look like us and speak the language you, I and nana speak, who practice the same religion, who have done some bad things."

Ilyana looks confused. "Yeah, but that's not us?"

Zayn nods. "No, it's not, but some people can't tell the difference."

Ilyana nods. "Okay. What did those bad people do?"

Zayn doesn't want to say, but he knows if he doesn't, she'll ask someone else and someone else until they tell her. "They hurt a lot of people. Killed some. With weapons, like in wars."

"Are we in a war?"

And Zayn doesn't even know how to answer that, because honestly, what's the difference between the current situation and the first and second world wars, or any other in history? "No, honey, we're not."

"Good." She says, her words final as she goes back to her maths homework just as there's a knock at the door.

He answers it, chuckling as Grayson rushes past his legs to find Ilyana. 

Liam looks good. He's in a nice shirt and dark washed jeans, his hair styled into a quiff. Actually, good doesn't even begin to cover it. Hot pretty much sums it up.

Zayn thinks about sucking at the birthmark on Liam's neck for a second too long before he takes Sawyer and the back pack from Liam with a smile.

"Thank you for taking them, Zayn, I really appreciate it."

Zayn smiles. "S'all cool." He says bouncing Sawyer on his hip until the toddler giggles.

"I'll be back before twelve, at the latest, earlier if it goes shit, and just, yeah, thank you again."

Zayn nods and smiles again before Liam leaves.

(He _doesn't_ watch Liam's arse at all as he walks away).

"C'mon, Sawyer, lets go see Ily, yeah?"

Sawyer giggles. "Ily, Ily, Ily!"

Zayn smiles at him and shuts the door behind himself as he walks back inside, following Ilyana and Grayson's voices to the kitchen.

Dinner goes off relatively without a hitch, no splattered food anywhere, or any fights, though Sawyer does end up with dribble and leftover pea and ham soup all over his chin and bib, so Zayn calls for a bath.

Ilyana decides she wants to have one with the boys, and Zayn's very hesitant at first, until he gives into her puppy dog eyes and starts the water running, filling it just over a foot deep and filling it with bubbles.

The three of them play with boats and ducks and other bath toys as Zayn cleans them, until they get all pruney and he gets them out and dries them off, one by one, youngest to eldest. Ilyana gets herself dressed, and helps him with Grayson and Sawyer, making faces for Sawyer as she carefully buttons his pyjama top and telling Grayson about the pretty bird she'd seen that day as the toddler giggled while she helped him into his pull up. God, Zayn almost wants to give her a sibling, just because she'd be such a great big sister.

Sawyer's out by the time he's clothed and fed a bottle, but Zayn doesn't leave him in his bedroom, instead taking him with them to lounge room and putting _Treasure Planet_ on low so he can sleep.

By the time Liam comes back at quarter past ten, Ilyana's in her bed, Grayson's in Zayn's, and He's trying to calm Sawyer from a crying fit he'd started barely ten minutes ago.

"Hey, c'mon in." He tells Liam, Sawyer in his arms, head in his shoulder, crying as Zayn pats his bottom to calm him.

"Here, I'll take him." Liam says as soon as they're in the lounge room, taking Sawyer and sitting down on the couch, calming him quicker than Zayn's ever seen him do.

"Missed his daddy, I think." He says, making a cuppa for himself and one for Liam.

"I think so." Liam agrees. It looks like Sawyer's conked out again, and Zayn smiles as his heart melts at the little boy. "He's getting real clingy lately."

Zayn hums. "So how did your date go?"

Liam groans. "It was a disaster. He kept telling me how he hated children, and how he hated working in the childcare centre at work, and he was rude the the poor waitress who couldn't've been more than eighteen, the poor thing. I got out as soon as I could."

Zayn frowns. "I'm sorry it went bad, Liam."

Liam sighs. "It doesn't matter. I guess I'm doomed to spend the rest of my life by myself."

Zayn's frown deepens. "Don't be stupid, you will find someone. It might take a bit, but you will."

Liam makes a non committal noise and falls back against the couch, holding Sawyer in his arms carefully.

Zayn hands over Liam's tea, slotting into the couch next to him with his own. It's silent for a long while, and Zayn doesn't like it. "Hey, wanna know a secret?"

Liam looks intrigued, eyes wide as he nods. 

"I gave birth to Ilyana."

Liam's eyes go a wide and his mouth drops open comically. "Oh, your a... I'm sorry, it's just, I've never met a breeder before, that's amazing."

Zayn chuckles. "It's not all that amazing. S'just science."

"It kind of is, though, like..." Liam bites his lip. "Did it hurt a lot? Giving birth, I mean? I wasn't there for Danielle's, she wouldn't let me be."

Zayn shrugs. "The contractions did, it's sorta like... Like a cramp. The first few aren't all that painful but I gets steadily worse until you can have an epidural and then you're off in lala land."

Liam chuckles, brushing his fingers through Sawyer's hair. "D' _you_ wanna know a secret?"

Zayn nods and smiles at Liam expectantly.

"Biologically, Sawyer's not mine."

"Oh."

Liam nods. "Yeah."

"Why've you...?"

Liam's mouth twitches and he licks his lips. "Their mother, my ex girlfriend, she passed away a week before I moved her. Well... She killed 'erself. In her note, she said she wanted me to have them both, and she didn't want Sawyer's father to ever know he existed."

"I'm sorry."

Liam shrugs. "S'alright. It... it happens, I guess, and I've got two beautiful boys now, so I'm alright."

Zayn puts his tea down and gestures that he's going to take Sawyer. Liam nods, so Zayn does so, holding the baby up next to Liam, careful not to wake him. "I reckon he looks just like you."

Liam smiles happily and they settle back together into the couch, Liam's head on Zayn's shoulder as Zayn holds Sawyer.

"Thank you."

"You're welcome, babes."

-*-*-

It's the middle of the day and Zayn doesn't have work, so he's got Hadley over for lunch, who works from home, when there's a knock on the door. He knows it's not Liam, cause he's at work, and his mum called him that morning, so he's confused.

He answers it to three men, all his age, one who's blonde and pale, another who's tall and lanky, and one who's short and curvy.

"Hello, we're looking for someone, his name's Liam. D'you know which flat he's in?" The shorter one asks with a bright smile.

"He's in the flat to the right," Zayn points it out. "But he's at work at the moment."

"Bugger, I told you we shoulda called." The taller one says, shaking his head.

Zayn checks his watch. "He should be back around two, so an hour and a half."

"Alright, thank you, lovely!" The shorter one says, pulling the other two back towards the elevator. Zayn stares after them for a second before chuckling and going inside.

He and Hadley make lunch from leftover Thai takeaway in Zayn's fridge, catching up and arguing good-naturedly over who's mother is cuter.

When Liam comes home, Zayn goes over to let him know his friends dropped by.

"Oh crap, oh crap, oh crap." Liam swears, running his fingers through his hair, practically tearing it out with how hard he's pulling. "Was one like really tall, and one was really short and the other was blonde?"

"Yeah... what's the matter?"

"They don't know, oh fuck, who gave them my address? I'm gonna kill my mother, fuck."

Liam looks frantic, and Zayn doesn't know what to do, so he just takes Liam's face in his hands and kisses him, hard and final. Liam stops, and goes almost limp in Zayn's hands before curling his arms around Zayn's hips, deepening the kiss.

Zayn's not sure how long they kiss, but by the time they let each other go, when there's a knock at the door, Zayn's gotta pick Ilyana up from school.

"Calm down, alright? It'll be fine."

Liam shakes his head frantically. "It won't."

"You're overreacting, calm down." Zayn kisses him again, this time curling his fingers in the hair at the nape of Liam's neck before letting him go. "Go answer the door. I've gotta pick Ilyana up from school. Would you like me to take the boys?"

Liam's eyes go wide and he swallows, but he also nods. "Please."

Zayn presses a kiss to Liam's forehead and plucks Sawyer from Liam's arms. "C'mon, boys, lets go see Ilyana."

"Ily, Ily, Ily!" Sawyer says as Liam goes to open the door.

Zayn only says a quick hello before he's making a beeline out into the hallway with Sawyer and Grayson, and into his own flat for his wallet phone and keys as well as Ilyana's old carseat.

After he picks Ilyana up from school he takes them all out for ice cream on Oxford, feeding Sawyer his and letting Ilyana and Grayson feed themselves as Ilyana tells the younger about his day (though Zayn's quite sure he understands barely a quarter of it, even if he's nodding along and making an odd comment every now and then).

By the time he gets them home, he can still hear voices in Liam's apartment so he takes Ilyana and the boys into his own and sets them in front of the kids channel while he starts dinner, sending Liam a text about where they are. _Thank you_ is all he sends back.

-*-*-

Liam doesn't come over until after eight, after Zayn's already fed them and got them ready for bed, and he looks positively exhausted, rubbing at his eyes, which are drooped and clouded over.

"Sorry I took so long."

Zayn smiles. "It's alright. C'mon, sit down and I'll get you something to eat."

Liam does, sitting down on the couch with Ilyana and the boys while Zayn plates up the last of the apricot chicken for him. He's asleep when Zayn walks out into the lounge room, but Zayn wakes him up so he can eat.

"Thank you."

Zayn smiles. "It's alright, love. Eat up and I'll put the boys to bed in Ilyana's room."

Liam nods and slowly begins to eat his food while Zayn puts the kids to bed, all squeezed into Ilyana's double bed (Zayn's old bed from high school that Ilyana had _suggested_ she have). He reads them a story and they all drop off before the end of it, curled together in a way that reminds Zayn of a puppy pile.

Liam's asleep on the couch again when Zayn wanders back into the lounge room, his plate still half full.

Zayn chuckles fondly and takes the plate, covering it in cling wrap and putting it in the fridge before waking Liam to get him in bed.

"Sorry, sorry, 'm... m'sleepy." Liam mumbles, eyes half lidded as Zayn pulls him down the corridor to his bedroom.

"S'alright, you silly boy." Zayn chuckles, helping Liam out of his clothes and into a pair of Zayn's Batman pyjama bottoms, pushing him into the bed and under the covers. "It's like having another kid."

Liam drops off almost immediately, and Zayn debates leaving the kitchen until tomorrow morning, but decides against it, and does the dishes before heading to bed himself. He strips down to his briefs and pulls on an old Star Wars t-shirt that's soft and faded and way too big for his small frame, falling off his shoulder as he climbs into bed next to Liam and falling asleep almost as quick as Liam had.

-*-*-

In the morning, when Zayn wakes, he's alone in bed, and the sheets are cold, but he can hear Liam's voice in the kitchen, as well as the kids' voices. It's a Saturday, so Zayn doesn't have work and he doesn't have to get Ilyana ready for school, so he decides to stay in bed a little longer.

When he decides 'a little longer' is over, he's about to get out of bed when Liam pushes his way into the room, Ilyana and Grayson following in a duck-line behind him, sawyer in Grayson's arms. Both Liam and Ilyana are holding trays, and Zayn thinks his mouth might split from how hard he's smiling.

"Morning." He greets, smiling from the bed as Liam puts the tray down next to his knees, taking the other from Ilyana and putting it next to the first. On the trays are pancakes and bacon and eggs, a pile of plates and cutlery as well as three sippy cups of orange juice and two mugs of coffee. There's also a jar of mashed fruit salads bed a spoon for Sawyer. 

"We made breakfast, didn't we, troupe?"

Together Ilyana and Grayson push Sawyer up onto the bed before helping each other up while Zayn sits up and Liam sits down next to him.

"This is great, Liam, thank you." Zayn presses a kiss to Liam's cheek and Liam blushes a cherry red and smiles shyly.

While they eat, Zayn feeds Sawyer, the baby in his lap and giggling, picking up pieces of bacon and pancake and egg every now and then to pop into his mouth.

It feels quite domestic and not even a little weird, and Zayn loves it.

After breakfast they dress the kids and pack them into the car, driving the up to Brighton for a day on the pier where they enjoy themselves as much as Ilyana and the boys do. Liam even wins Zayn a giant stuffed Dalmatian that reminds Zayn of _101 Dalmatians_ and makes him grin like an idiot.

Once the days over and the sun's starting to set, they head home, lugging prizes like stuffed toys, Ilyana and the boys asleep in the back.

Zayn's driving, humming along to the radio, volume turned down low, smiling over at Liam on every red light. Liam always smiles back.

When they get home, and the kids are bathed and in bed asleep, Liam and Zayn get into Liam's bed together, facing each other, but not touching.

"I had fun today." Liam says, smiling, reaching forward slowly to brush Zayn's fringe from his eyes. "A lot of fun."

"Me, too."

Liam leans forward, about to kiss Zayn, but stops short. "Can I kiss you?"

Zayn nods, and shuffles closer to Liam, as Liam presses their lips together.

They kiss slowly and languidly, bodies pressed together, and Zayn can feel himself growing hard in his briefs, can feel Liam's own cock against his thigh.

The kisses get harder and deeper and hotter, and Liam's rutting against Zayn's thigh like a dog, and Zayn just wants to take Liam's cock in his hand, so he does, digging his his hand in Liam's briefs and curling it around Liam's hard prick.

"Fuck, Zayn, fuck, yes."

Zayn rubs his thumb over Liam's slit and licks into Liam's mouth.

"Zayn, _god_."

Zayn presses kisses down Liam's bare chest to the waist of his briefs where his hand is shoved inside, pulling his hand out to drag his briefs down.

"Zayn, fuck."

Zayn licks his hand, gets it wet, and wraps it around Liam's cock, jerking it, sucking at the head. Zayn sucks him down, going as far as he can without choking himself, and scratches his nails down Liam's thighs until he's whining and begging.

Zayn hollows his mouth around Liam's prick, tongue flat against the side of it, and Liam whines, reaching down to curl his fingers in Zayn's long fringe. Zayn sucks at the head and pulls off, pressing open-mouthed kisses along the side of Liam's cock to his balls, pulling one into his mouth.

"Zayn, oh god, your _mouth_." Liam whimpers, tugging at Zayn's hair. "Wanna fuck your mouth."

Zayn pulls off and Liam whimpers until Zayn says, "Yeah, yeah, hop up."

Liam sits up carefully, and Zayn takes his place on the bed, head on the pillows, patting his chest. Liam's eyes go wide when he realises what Zayn wants him to do and quickly scrabbles to sit over Zayn's chest, balls and cock bobbing against his chin. Liam takes hold of his cock and feeds it to Zayn, groaning when Zayn sucks around him.

"God, Zayn," Liam groans, fucking his cock into Zayn's mouth. "God, I'm gonna come in your mouth, all over your face, fuck."

Zayn groans and Liam makes a choked off noise as it reverberates around his cock, holding onto the headboard tight, knuckles gone white with the effort. He curls an arm around Liam's thigh and reaches the other down to get his cock out and wrap a hand around it.

Somehow Zayn manages to come before Liam, but not by very much, back arching up off the bed as come splatters along his belly and chest, whimpering around Liam's cock. Liam follows after him, spilling down Zayn's throat, hot and bitter, shoving a hand in his mouth as he cries out.

They fall together down onto the bed, sweaty and covered in come, and promptly fall asleep in each others arms.

-*-*-

Liam and the boys are gone the next morning, just a note left in their stead on the kitchen bench; _sorry I didn't wake you, I'm taking the boys to meet my mates. I'll come knock on your door when I get back, yeah?_

Zayn and Ilyana spend their day in their pyjamas, re-watching _Xena: Warrior Princess_ from the start, eating junk food and being generally very lazy.

At five in the afternoon, Liam knocks on the door, looking bright and cheery if a bit exhausted, and he and the boys join them in front of the TV for the rest of the night.

-*-*-

"Hey, Zayn, how're you doing, lovebug?"

Zayn smiles at his mums voice, body warm and relaxed like it always is when she's talking to her. He's in the lounge room, off work for the day, and alone while Ilyana's at school. He'd been on his laptop, scrolling through Facebook, entirely way too bored when his mum had called. "Good, mum. Made a friend."

"Would you like to tell me about this friend?" She's smiling, Zayn can hear it in her voice, and it makes _him_ smile. 

"S'name's Liam. Lives next door with his boys. S'pretty nice 'n that. S'proper hot 'n everythin', too."

His mum laughs, bright and cheery, and it makes Zayn laugh as well. "Well, at least he's hot."

"Yes, we've sorta shagged."

She laughs again. "I didn't say anything."

Zayn shrugs, even though he knows his mum can't see it. "You didn't need to, like. Know ya like the back of me hand, don' I?

"True, very true." His mum's silent for a moment until she takes a loud breath in. "You're being careful, aren't ya?"

Zayn groans. "Mum, we haven't even had proper sex, yet, s'not like I can get pregnant from a blowjob."

"Eh, TMI, honey, TMI, I'm just being your worrywart mum, ain't I? I'm allowed."

"I suppose." Zayn jokes, smile pulling at his lips as there's a knock at the door. "Mum, I've gotta go, someone's at the door."

"Alright, I love you, lovebug."

"Love you, too, mum."

He hangs up after that, just as the person at the door knocks again, and throws his phone onto the couch to answer the door.

It's Liam outside and the minute the door's fully open, Liam's pushing him back inside, dropping his bag, slamming the door closed and pressing Zayn up against the wall. He kisses Zayn hard, and presses their bodies close together his cock already thick and bulging in his trackies against Zayn's belly.

The kiss for a long time, until Zayn's hard, too, and his lips are tingling and bitten raw, and he's moaning into Liam's mouth. He pulls away for a moment, breathing against Liam's lips, hips pressed hard into Liam's, hands curled in his tight t-shirt.

"Fuckin' hell, that was alright, what was that for?"

Liam presses another, quick kiss to Zayn's mouth. "Just because. I wanna suck your cock."

Liam starts tugging at the waistband of Zayn's before Zayn stops him. "Wait, calm down a sec, babe, why aren't you at work? And where are the boys?"

Liam rolls his eyes, but chuckles, going back to pulling down Zayn's track pants. "I don't always work the same hours. Niall and Louis are babysitting for the rest of the afternoon. Can I go back to sucking you off now?"

Zayn nods vigorously, and Liam drops to his knees, pulling Zayn's pants all the way down, helping Zayn completely out of them. Zayn starts to take off his t-shirt as Liam mouths at his cock over his briefs, and Zayn falls back against the wall, half caught in his top as he moans.

"Fuck, babe."

He gets his tops the rest of the way off and curls his fingers around Liam's shoulders, holding on as Liam sucks and licks and mouths at his cock through the material of his boxers.

When Liam finally gets Zayn's cock out and into his mouth, Zayn's knees go weak, and his mind goes foggy, and he just wants, so bad, to have his cock in places other than Liam's mouth, wants to fuck him til he begs and screams, wants to see Liam fall apart on his cock.

"God, Liam, _fuck_." 

Liam's proper sucking him, then, mouth hollowing around Zayn's cock, throat spasming around the head when he take him in far. Zayn can't even speak, he's so fucking good, if he'd known Liam was _this_ good at sucking cock when he'd first met him, maybe he'd've gotten him into bed sooner. His mouth is just so fucking warm and wet and Zayn's belly's so hot.

"God, Liam, you're so fucking good, your fucking _mouth_ is so good." 

Liam pulls off with a audible, obscene pop and wraps his hand around the base of Zayn's cock, taking a breath before diving back in, sucking the head into his mouth and licking at the slit.

"Liam, fuck, I wanna come."

Liam pulls back again and jerks at Zayn's cock a few times before pulling away and starting to strip, struggling to get out of his trackies and pants for a while, but managing. He gets back to Zayn's cock, this time with a hand wrapped around his own, and continues to suck Zayn off as he jerks himself off.

Liam swallows when Zayn comes, and Zayn drops to his knees to help Liam come, kissing him sloppily as he moans.

-*-*-

They spend the last hour and a half before Ilyana finishes school naked on the lounge, kissing lazily and grinding until they both come again, before getting dressed and into Zayn's car.

Ilyana's surprised to find Liam with Zayn when they get to her classroom, but she looks happy, even jumps into Liam's arms for a hug, after getting one from Zayn. They're about to leave again when Ilyana's teacher, a middle aged woman who's name Zayn's forgotten, calls him over.

"Hi, Mr Malik, I'd just like you to know that the principle and I have decided to move Ilyana to the other class."

Zayn frowns. "What on earth for?"

"Some other children in this class are giving her a hard time-"

"Why wasn't I told?"

The woman frowns. "I sent home ten letters."

Zayn looks back at Ilyana and she looks almost sheepish. He then looks back at the teacher. "Why can't the other children's behaviour be dealt with?"

The woman's eyes flick to Liam and then to Ilyana and back to Zayn. "There are a few issues that have arisen pertaining to your race, religion, sexuality and your status as a breeder."

"Excuse me?"

Liam takes a step forward, ahead of Zayn with Ilyana behind him.

"Please, Mr Malik, I didn't mean myself. I've had complaints from other parents. Students have been calling her names, she, well, you know about the boy that hit her."

Zayn feels horrified, not only for his daughter, but also for himself. He'd though putting her into a private school would keep her safe from prejudice, but he was wrong. He's about to say something when a woman in the far corner catches his eye. _She's shielding her son's eyes_. He's never a violent person, he's always calm and collected, but he can't stop himself from thinking about punching her nose in. He doesn't even realise he's taken a step forward, fist raised, when Liam stops him, arm curled around his belly to pull him back.

"C'mon, Zayn, s'no point. Ily's standing right here."

Zayn turns back to Liam, heart beating faster then he's sure it ever has, and he nods. "Okay, okay, lets go."

They leave, and the car trip is mostly silent, and it makes Zayn feel all tight and angry, because who the fuck could do this to a child? His child?

When inside Zayn's flat, Liam makes Ilyana a snack and sets her in front of the TV while Zayn finds his laptop and set up on the kitchen table, googling primary schools in the area.

He finds one he thinks he likes when Liam comes in, brushing his fingers through Zayn's hair soothingly and kissing the top of his head. "What're you doing, love?"

"I'm moving Ilyana to a different school." Liam sits beside him and Zayn turns to look at him. "Please don't try and change my mind."

Liam shakes his head. "I won't. C'mon, I'll help you find a good one."

Together search for a couple hours for schools in the whole of London, and even as far as Surrey and Brighton until they decide on a private school in Brixton with a great history and great reviews, and puts a reminder up on the fridge to call them the next day.

After the boys are dropped off by Liam's friends, Liam makes them all dinner and sets them all to bed, cuddling up to Zayn, kissing him carefully and brushing his fingers through Zayn's hair til he falls asleep.

-*-*-

Zayn doesn't have work on Ilyana's first day at her new school, and neither does Liam, so they take her together, Sawyer and Grayson in the back with Ilyana, talking excitedly to each other. It feels very... domestic, and Zayn loves it.

They take Ilyana into the office then walk her to her classroom, meet her teacher together and smile at the other children as they coo when Sawyer and Grayson each kiss Ilyana goodbye.

They drop off the boys at Liam's friend, Harry's house for a play date with his daughter, Darcy, while they go on their own date.

It's nothing too adventurous, just a lunch date at a cafe in Brighton, but it goes well. Really well.

Well enough that when they get home, Zayn can't help himself from begging Liam to let him fuck him.

Liam's eyes are wide, and his breathing quickens as he nods vigurously. "Yes, yes, god, yes, Zayn, please."

Getting naked is decidedly easier than Zayn would've suspected, especially when Liam's so flushed and hard, and all Zayn wants to do is kiss him and kiss him until his lips are bitten red and he's about to come. But they get it done, falling onto the bed, pressed flushed together, kissing and grinding until Zayn reaches into the bedside table for the lube and condoms he'd bought a week ago for exactly this reason.

He fingers Liam carefully, but also quickly, drinking Liam's moans, encouraging the begs for his cock that falls from Liam's lips.

Slipping in feels almost like coming home, tight, hot and wet and so fucking _good_ , and all Zayn can do is grunt in pleasure as Liam begs beneath him.

"Zayn, fuck, your cock, so fucking good, I'm gonna come, wanna come so bad."

When Liam does come, his back arches almost violently, come splattering onto his belly and chest, mouth open in an inaudible scream, hole clenching rhythmically around Zayn's cock.

It only takes Zayn a few more thrusts to come after Liam, moaning his pleasure into Liam's neck.

After they've both come down, and they're resting in bed together, Liam spooning around Zayn, when Liam presses a kiss to the skin behind Zayn's ear. "Is it cliche to say you feel like the best home I've ever had? You and Ilyana and Sawyer and Grayson?"

It makes Zayn's heart beat faster and he smiles. "A little cliche. But I feel the same." He takes a deep breath and digs deeper into Liam's arms. "Can I be cliche?"

"Yeah." Liam kisses behind Zayn's ear again and it makes Zayn smile.

"Can I be cliche and ask you to be my boyfriend."

Liam pulls Zayn in even closer and turns his head to kiss him. "Yes, you can, and yes, I will be."

Zayn kisses him back.

-*-*-

_Ten Years Later_

"Ready?"

Zayn shakes his head. "I'll never be ready, but go on, turn it over."

Liam turns the test over with a shaking hand, and they both stare down at the perfectly printed _Pregnant - 3 weeks_.

"Fuck, yes."

"Is it positive?" Ilyana asks from the other side of the door, knocking on it. Zayn can hear the grin in her voice, and he can also hear the boys chatting excitedly.

Liam smiles at Zayn, eyes crinkling at the corners. "Shall I let them in?"

Zayn nods, holding the test behind his back as Liam opens the door to let Ilyana, Sawyer and Grayson in.

"Show us, show us, show us!" Sawyer begs, holding out his hands. "C'mon, I wanna know!"

Zayn laughs and hands the test over to Ilyana.

"Yes!"

"Really?" Grayson says, taking the stick next, before handing it to Sawyer as he hugs Ilyana.

"It's gonna be a girl, I swear, it has to be a girl, I'm so sick of being the only one."

"Gor-"

"Gorgie doesn't count! She's a dog!"

Liam laughs and shoots a gorgeous smile at Zayn that makes his heart melt. "Love you, you gorgeous man." He leans forward and presses a soft kiss to Zayn's mouth and it makes Zayn's entire body melt.

"I hope it's a girl, too." Liam says. "We can call her Trisha."

Zayn's whole body goes weak, eyes filling with tears as he gives Liam a weak, but happy smile. "Yeah, yeah. Trisha."

"I love you. So much."

Zayn smiles again. "I love you, too, Liam."


End file.
